Capitol and Community Updates

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

It is an honor to represent the residents of the 69th House District and Genesee County. The purpose of this e-newsletter is to keep you updated on my work in Lansing and around our community. Please follow me on Facebook or Instagram where we post frequent updates. You can also always get in touch with us through our website, office number (517) 373-1786 and by email at [email protected]. We are here to serve you.

Before we get to the Lansing and community update, I want to take a moment to discuss the recent developments regarding the deal to bring a semiconductor manufacturing facility to Mundy Township at the Advanced Manufacturing District, otherwise known as the “megasite,” that ultimately fell through.

Last month, I wrote an article that goes into greater detail explaining the journey this development took at the local, state and federal level, my thoughts and feelings regarding its failure and what could be next for that site. I invite you all to read it here.

Jasper R. Martus

State Representative

69th House District

Office: (517)-373-1786

Email: [email protected]

In this Edition:

Lansing Updates
District Event Updates
Resources

LANSING UPDATE

The Impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) for Michigan

By June in my first term, we were well into negotiations on crafting a state budget between the House, Senate and Governor’s office. This term, however, we have so far only seen the education subcommittee report out a budget. House Republicans still haven’t negotiated a final state budget and are leading one of the least productive legislatures in over 85 years. It is my hope that the budget begins moving soon so that we can start to have conversations as we work to fill gaps likely left by cuts coming from Washington. Unfortunately, those cuts have now arrived, and with no clear plan from the Speaker, schools and health care providers are being forced to operate in the dark while families are left waiting for answers. If the Legislature does not produce a budget by Sept. 30, there will be a government shutdown the following day.

According to an analysis by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, the OBBBA will force the state to cut around $1.1 billion in our General Fund appropriations based on the governor’s FY 2026 budget recommendations that were given at the beginning of the year. This is largely due to a combination of increases in state cost-sharing for Medicaid and SNAP, which could increase Michigan’s spending on these programs by over $1 billion for fiscal year 2032. Tax cuts and exemptions for certain business expenditures will impact Michigan’s corporate income tax collections, reducing them by $677 million. At my June town hall event, I went over some of the details of these cuts and what they will mean for Michigan. In the coming weeks, many of you will receive a follow-up postcard, detailing some of these affects the OBBBA will have on Medicaid and SNAP in Michigan and our local community.

The so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” includes the largest cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in American history — slashing $1 trillion from Medicaid and $186 billion from food assistance over the next 10 years.

These cuts have forced us all to go back to the drawing board as not only must we deal with the consequences of having less funds to work with for this year’s budget cycle, but for future budget cycles as well. The same report found that these OBBBA provisions will absorb around 40% of expected general revenue by FY 2032. This means our state will have less money to support businesses, support our social services and networks of providers, preserve our parks and natural landscapes, promote our state through tourism and economic incentives, our schools and universities, our public safety efforts, our key physical infrastructure projects and so many other actions.

As your state representative, I will continue to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that despite these cuts, we find a solution with these federal cuts in mind. I am committed to securing a fiscally responsible budget that protects kids and Michigan’s most vulnerable people. That means investing in:

Kids and schools that provide a world-class education.
Wrap-around services that help our children grow into healthy, thriving adults.
Affordable and accessible health care.
SNAP programming that keeps food on the table and eases the burden of families living paycheck to paycheck.

DISTRICT EVENT UPDATE

Recent Community Events

I am proud to say that myself, my staff and volunteers have knocked on well over 650 doors in the community so far. We plan to continue walking and talking to folks in August, so if you see us in your neck of the woods, feel free to say hi and have a conversation. We hope to be seeing you soon.

Photos from legislative walks in Mt. Morris and Flint Twp., July 19 and July 23.

Additionally, I’d like to announce that myself and special guest U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald-Rivet of the 8th MI Congressional District will both have tables at the Veterans & First Responders Resource Fair & Recreation Day on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Riverview Park, 230 S. Cherry St., Flushing, MI 48433. We will have free federal and state resource books available at our tables as well as an opportunity to discuss issues at the national and state level. We hope to see you there!

RESOURCES

Below is a compiled list of federal, state and local information and resources that may be useful to you.

State Resources

State and Federal Government Contacts

Metropolitan District, City, Township and County Governments

I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

I want to hear from you. What do you need? How can we help you? My office is here to assist you or answer any questions you may have. Please, reach out to me by phone at (517) 373-1786 or email at [email protected].